A Bold Advance
by Zmaj-Owl
Summary: This is a fanfic about a girl named Primrose who was raised in New Bark Town of the Johto region in the Pokemon world. She sets out on a journey with her unwanted Trapinch that she received from Professor Elm. Rated T for later chapter occurrences.
1. Prologue

The alarm went off, playing Primrose's favorite song, "Vanilla Twilight" by Owl City. The time on the clock was flashing repeatedly, showing that it was six in the morning. Primrose flung out her hand, feeling for the off button that would inevitably turn off the music that was blasting at the highest possible volume, waking Prim from her sleep. The covers felt nice and warm as she pulled them comfortably over her shoulders, and the pillow felt like a cloud under her head. The pillow was, after all, stuffed with Swablu feathers and her blanket was made out of Piloswine fur, but dyed to look like a bunch of Oran, Aspear, Yache, and Chesto berries randomly placed on a white backdrop.

As comfortable as her bed was, this was not the day to sleep in. Today was the day that Primrose would be getting her first Pokémon from Professor Elm, her neighbor and family friend. Her parents wanted her to at least finish middle school before she went off on her journey around the Pokémon world, so she would have to leave at the age of fourteen instead of ten, but she was still just as eager to leave New Bark, her home town. Prim even decided exactly which Pokémon she wanted from Professor Elm, a Cyndaquil. She always loved fire Pokémon and Cyndaquil was no exception. She even made sure to get up extra early to be the first person to get to Professor Elm's lab.

Primrose lazily crawled out of bed and into the kitchen. Her father was already at work, studying plants and berries, while her mother and younger brother were still sleeping. She promised her mom to stay quiet that morning so that she wouldn't wake up her brother, Nikola, who would inevitably wake up her mom because he had autism. They didn't need to wake up for another hour and a half because Nikola's bus came to take him to school at eight o'clock.

Prim quickly opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk and chocolate syrup from the top shelf. She dropped them on the counter, next to the sink and started to rummage through the shelves and drawers until she found a cup and a long, thin spoon. She carefully poured the milk into the cup and squirted out more than enough chocolate syrup, just the way she liked it. She placed the milk and chocolate back into the fridge before she went downstairs to retrieve a package of Oreos. Was this a healthy breakfast or what? When she was done eating a couple cookies and chugging down the last of the milk, she lugged her tired body to the bathroom where she took her glasses off and put in her contacts so she could see better. After that, she brushed her teeth until she got all of the Oreo pieces out of her mouth. She quietly wandered into her room, putting on a black tank top and a pair of dark green cargo pants before walking up to the mirror on her walk-in closet's door.

Primrose inspected herself, brushing out her long, dark, brown hair before whipping it up into a quick ponytail. Her green and brown eyes shined in the light coming from the ceiling lamp and her lightly tanned skin made her eyes pop even more. She rarely went outside, especially considering the windy weather of her town and the ranger who didn't let anyone leave the town unless they had a Pokémon with them at all times. Sure, Prim could go out for short walks with her family's shiny Furret, Keke, but her parents didn't want her out anyway because Keke was needed at home to help watch her brother and help her mother around the house. All this resulted to Prim having pale skin for most of the year and being extremely good at playing video games, especially her favorites, The legend of Zelda, Okami, and of course, Pokémon!

After getting dressed, Primrose checked her bag that she packed the other night, making sure she didn't miss anything important that she would need for her journey. Prim even had a check list that named every item that she would need. It read:

_Things for journey_

_Pokégear_

_Money (1000 poké)_

_Food and water bottles_

_Extra Clothes_

_Potions and Antidote bag_

_Extra contacts and glasses_

_Berry Bag_

_Sleeping bag_

If she needed anything else, Prim could always stop at a store to buy something or she could pick berries if she ran out of food. Plus, she had her handy, waterproof pokégear if she needed to call for help.

After Primrose was done making sure everything was set and ready, she rushed downstairs to quickly feed Keke some pokéblocks before running out the door, almost tripping down the steps of her porch. She hopped onto her bike and rode down the block until she finally arrived at Professor Elm's lab. Ten minutes before she was supposed to arrive, however, the other two kids that were also getting their Pokémon that day also had the same idea to come early. She walked up to a boy that was about her age, maybe slightly older by a few months. She'd seen him around in school before, they even shared a math class together, but she never seemed to pay the brown haired boy any attention. He was one of those popular boys in school that every girl loved, but Prim always disliked people like that. She scraped though her memory until she remembered the boy's name, Johnny.

Primrose looked over at the much younger girl who looked like she was around the age of nine. She was a short, blonde haired, blue eyed, annoying brat named April. The reason why Prim was able to remember her name was because April's mother would always come over and gossip with her own mom about everything that was going on and she often brought April over to play with Keke and for Prim to babysit her. Out of the two, she decided to talk to Johnny because he was her age, despite the fact that she disliked him. Primrose was usually quick to judge and Johnny was no exception, but she might as well talk to him to pass the time because it appeared that the gates to the lab were locked.

"So…What Pokémon are you going to get?" Primrose asked him.

"A Totodile, you?" Johnny responded, looking right at her with his light, blue eyes.

"I was going to choose a Cyndaquil."

"Cool, I heard they're really strong on their last evolution."

"Yeah, they're just adorable too."

"I was going to get a Chikorita cause they're cuter." April butted in.

"I guess there won't be any fighting over which Pokémon we get then." Johnny replied.

"Lucky us." Primrose mumbled, but after that, it was quiet until one of Professor Elm's workers came up to open the gate. He was a pretty large man, probably in his late thirties to early forties. His lab coat was covered in some kind of yellow-ish substance and a scowl was plastered onto his face. "Well git in 'ere." He grumbled, obviously tired and grumpy from lack of sleep and no coffee to wake him up. He lazily motioned for them to follow him with his right hand and turned around to walk back to the lab. The three followed behind him, not saying a word in the worries that he might snap at them. He opened the double doors, not caring to hold it open for any of the younger kids, and he led them to a backroom where they were to sit and wait for professor Elm.

After what seemed like ages, professor Elm came in. His hair was a mess, one of the lenses on in his glasses was cracked diagonally across the center, and his lab coat had the same yellow-ish substance staining its white color. "Welcome to my lab! Sorry I was a little late. The team and I were watching two Munchlax eggs that hatched late last night, but they spit up all over us after we tried to feed them some MooMoo milk as you can see." He spread out his arms to better show the gigantic mess that was all over him. April shrunk back in her chair and stuck her tongue out, obviously disgusted by him, while Primrose and Johnny showed just a little discomfort. "I bet you guys can't wait for your Pokémon! Follow me and I'll bring you all over to the room they're in!" Professor Elm said a bit too enthusiastically, which was probably because he actually had his morning coffee…or because he was crazy, but Primrose suspected that it was a mix of both. He led them though a long hallway, pointing out different rooms and explaining what each was used for. He even managed to throw on another lab coat, this time a clean one that was unbuttoned, showing his teal-green shirt with a yellow and blue stripe going across his chest. "They should be in here." He said, opening a door labeled "Safely Tested Specimens." The three kids followed Professor Elm into the room, amazed by how plain it looked compared to everything else they were shown. The walls were a buff white and the floor was made from ebony wood. The only things inside were a couple wooden tables and three pokéballs sitting on the furthest table in the back. Professor Elm scurried over and picked up on of the pokéballs. "This one should be a Totodile!" He exclaimed holding out the ball in his hand, his arm fully extended as if he was waiting for something to happen. "Um…Maybe not… This pokéball has a Pokémon in it!" He did the same with the second pokéball and again with the third, but with no luck. "OH NO! I forgot to have the Pokémon sent over! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! This isn't good! Um… I'll have to give you one of our spares, or… if that's okay with you?" He yelled in a mix of frustration and embarrassment.

Primrose knew that Professor Elm was forgetful, but to forget to get them their Pokémon was just astounding! How on earth could someone forget that? The three kids looked at him dumbfounded until Johnny spoke up. "We still get to choose from the same three Pokémon, right?" He mumbled worryingly.

"I'm afraid not. The Pokémon you're getting aren't even tested or trained yet, unless you want to wait two weeks for them to be sent over?" Professor Elm mumbled, trying to sound positive, but failing miserably.

"You've got to be kidding me! I'm already all packed and everything! I'm getting my Pokémon today!" Primrose ordered.

"I'm not waiting for my Pokémon! I WANT IT NOW!" April yelled, almost to the brink of starting a tantrum.

"I'm s-so sorry about this! I'll take you to the other room! P-Please don't be mad!" Professor Elm pleaded, running to the door and eagerly motioning for them to follow. They walk to a room that was two doors down labeled "Untested Minor 1," which didn't seem like a very good thing, but Professor Elm said that they will at least be getting a Pokémon, even if it wasn't her dream Pokémon, Cyndaquil. Inside the room were various test tubes and a couple cages and tables scattered across the room. There were a couple Pokémon inside. Primrose could see two Voltorbs, a Krabby, an Abra, a Pikachu that was being followed around by three Pichus, a Sandshrew, four Shroomish, and a Venipede all in different pens and cages in the room, but they at least seemed happy and content in their small homes. "Now the only pokemon I would recommend taking are the Abra, Krabby, Voltorb, and Sandshrew." Professor Elm said, trying to sound enthusiastic again.

"I'll take the Sandshrew." Johnny exclaimed, reaching his hand out to the small Pokémon. It nuzzled him back happily, already liking its future owner.

"I don't want any of these! They're so ugly! I want the Pichu or something cute like that!" April whined, turning her face into an angry pout. Prim, on the other hand, just stood there looking over the Pokémon. She obviously wasn't thrilled about the choices, but she didn't say anything. "How about one of the Munchlaxes? Would you like to have one of them?" Professor Elm asked, now running out of options for the impatient, young girl. She nodded happily in agreement, thinking that a baby Munchlax would be one of the most adorable thing ever. Elm looked over at Primrose who was blankly staring at the choices she had. "And I think I have a good Pokémon for you somewhere Prim! You two hold tight while I get your Pokémon!" Professor Elm rushed out the door, only to come back with a baby Munchlax cradled in his arms and a pokéball held at the tips of his fingers. He handed Prim the pokéball and then handed April the Munchlax that now appeared to be sleeping and sucking its fingers in its sleep.

"Uh…What is it?" Primrose asked while April was busy cooing over her new Pokémon.

"Well, go find out yourself!" Professor Elm exclaimed happily.

Primrose threw the ball, letting out a large, red light. At the end a small, orange figure appeared. It turned around and in the blink of an eye, jumped up and bit Elm on his hand. Primrose grabbed the pokéball and immediately brought it back inside. "Are you okay Professor?" She asked.

"I'm fine, no worries! Believe it or not, this happens to me all of the time." He replied.

"Okay, that's good. Was that a Trapinch that bit you?"

"You bet! I just know that you two will come to like each other!"

"Um…Thanks." Primrose mustered up, trying to hide her growing disappointment. Johnny took the Sandshrew out of its pen and Professor Elm handed him a pokéball before he directed them all into the main hall. "Now, I have three more things to give you guys! The first is going to be two more pokéballs for you to use to capture more Pokémon. The second thing I'm going to give you is a nationaldex that can be used to record all Pokémon because I want you guys to keep stopping by to show me what information you got from your journey. You're not the only ones benefiting from this! However, the last thing I wanted to give you guys was something that nobody else has. It's called a Pokétalker! It's my newest invention that will astound the whole world, even Professor Oak! I want you three to test it out for me and see if it works, but it's going to take some time. Let me explain how it works!" Professor Elm handed each one of them two pokéballs and a pokédex before coming back with some kind of headphone with a microphone attached to the end. "Now first off, before you can use the Pokétalker, you need to befriend your Pokémon enough that they will trust and like you, pretty much becoming your best friends. If you don't do this, it won't work because you need to have a bond with your Pokémon before anything happens. After you make a close bond with your Pokémon, you can put these on and talk in the mic, making whatever you say understandable to all Pokémon, but that's not the best part! Not only will you be able to talk to Pokémon, but you will be able to understand them! Once you befriend a Pokémon enough, the Pokétalker will allow you to understand every word they're saying! This is the first and only of its kind, but I need you three to test it out for me and see how it works in the real world! So here you all are. Don't forget to stop by whenever you can!" He handed each of the three a Pokétalker and ran out the door to go finish some other business, leaving the three alone in the room, completely stunned.

"Well that was weird, but I guess pretty cool because we get to test some new invention!" Primrose exclaimed as she observed the Pokétalker. It was pure white and felt pretty sturdy. At the bottom of one of the headphones, there was Professor Elm's name stamped on with a little trademark symbol next to it. The pokétalker looked very plain, but before they could say anything else, the big man who originally let them in, barged into the room and ordered them to follow him out of the lab and back outside to the front gate. Primrose stood at the outside of the gate for a few moments, carefully stuffing the pokédex and pokétalker into her bike's miniature basket before pulling out the pokéball with a Trapinch that she received. She began to walk home to pick up her things for the journey ahead, staring at the pokéball questionably. This was going to be a _very long_ journey…

((Well this is my first fanfic so please don't nom my soul for doing anything wrong! I hope y'all like it through and if a couple people want me to continue I'll keep making them, though I highly doubt that people would even read this considering the amount of people who probably make Pokémon fanfics… But look at me being a Debbie-Downer! Please feel free to review my Prolog chapter thing!)


	2. Chapter 1 The Beginning of a Bad Start

**Well here's the first official chapter. I hope you like it, if so review, if not, tell me why! I'm always open to everything, but if you simply put "I hate it," I would like a reason why please! If more people read my fic, I'll continue to make this instead of making only a few more chapters :D**

It wasn't long before Primrose arrived at her house. She quickly walked her bike into her backyard, careful not to hurt, or even touch, any of her father's _precious_ plants. She leaned the turquoise bike against the shed in the backyard that looked almost like a small, light blue house, but on the inside, it smelled strongly of pesticides, manure, oil, and just dirt in general. Prim hated the combination of the smells and was always reluctant whenever her father asked her to retrieve a tool or seeds from inside. Not wanting to kill her sense of smell for a week, she simply put the bike chain around the front and back tires before slipping the key into her pocket, making a mental note to leave it somewhere for her father to find so that he could put it inside the shed.

After she pulled her things out of the basket and was content with the way she propped up her bike, Primrose walked inside her house through the backdoor, again making sure not to harm any plants. She was immediately greeted by Keke, who excitedly circled around her legs before running back into the kitchen to help cook what smelled like her mother's homemade soup. "I'm home!" Prim announced as she walked into the kitchen herself. "What are you cooking?" she asked, already knowing the answer, but she was accustomed to snooping into the kitchen and asking what her mother and Keke were making for lunch and dinner, while going through every shelf and cabinet to find something to munch on before eating the bigger meal. "I'm making soup. You can have some if you stay long enough, but I expected you to be on your way ages ago, and how was your trip to Professor Elm's? Was it everything you imagined?" Prim's mother asked, always wanting to hear what her daughter was up to and how her day was.

"Not exactly… But we got these cool new inventions that Professor Elm wanted us to test out. They let us talk to our pokémon once we become friends with them, but I have a bad feeling that that's not going to happen anytime soon," Prim explained in a slightly disappointed tone.

"And why is that? You didn't get a good Cyndaquil? I'm sure it'll warm up to you! You love fire pokémon!"

"Yeah, see, that's the problem. It's not that I got a bad Cyndaqil, but I didn't get one at all! I don't even have a fire pokémon! I got a Trapinch which is a ground type…I think."

"Awww, I'm sorry dear! I'm sure you'll get a Cyndaqil one day." She took a pause to take sliced carrot out of Keke's paws and continued, "Yes, Trapinch is a ground pokémon. I told you to study more than just the Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh pokémon!"

"Hopefully, but I don't even want a ground pokémon! I wanted a good team of Pokémon I chose, not some silly orange thing, and I only needed to study three regions to pass my exam, mom!" Prim was starting to get frustrated and she didn't want to talk about her already crushed dream anymore, but she didn't want to just leave in the middle of a conversation.

"Ground Pokémon are better than you think, dear. You'll see, don't worry. Also, everyone's journey ends up differently than how they planned! Take your father for instance. He wanted to be the best water pokémon trainer in the world, but he found out that being a trainer wasn't his calling and he started to study plants and berries alongside his two grass pokémon, Gloom and Jumpluff. Your father never regretted leaving his old dream behind to start a new one and he's happy as a Happiny!"

"I guess you're right, mom. I'm going to go get my stuff and go. We said our goodbyes last night so you don't need to be all mushy or anything." Primrose was trying to hide her disappointment that was still lingering inside her. She knew she wasn't anything like her father who practically lived for his plants, but she wasn't going to show it in front of her mother who seemed to be a bit jittery, dropping an ingredient or her spoon every now and then as she spoke. They had already said their goodbyes last night while her father was actually home and not in his garden or the lab he worked at out in Violet City. She always hated when her parents went all out by saying how proud they were of her and how much of an amazing daughter she was. Prim preferred to be given a physical item that she could use, such as a new video game, instead of being strangled by hugs and killed by compliments. It wasn't only her parents she had a problem with either. She felt uncomfortable getting compliments from just about everyone unless they were complementing on a drawing or on her good grades, only her parents bothered her when it came to that.

Primrose rushed out of the kitchen and into her room, not waiting to hear her mother's response which was only a simple "Okay" anyway. Her room was amazingly clean for once, showing that there actually was light tan carpeting instead of just a pile of clothes, books, and other trinkets scattering the floor. The walls were half blue and half yellow with a Mario star patterned border splitting the two colors. Her bed was in one corner of her room, almost extending all the way to the door. A black set of drawers was placed next to the bed, along with a large, red oak desk that was on the opposite side of the room. Next to the door was a gigantic wooden set of shelves, packed with books, and right next to that was her walk-in closet that was now housing all of the junk that used to clutter her floor. Now that she thought about it, her room looked rather plain without all of the clutter. The only things that stood out were the Legend of Zelda and Okami posters on the wall that she actually had laminated so that they wouldn't get damaged. (Editor's note that doesn't really serve a purpose: I love this room so much and want to steal these Zelda and Okami posters. Alright, onward.)

Prim walked up to her bag that was lying on her bed. It was black with a maroon sleeping bag strapped to the top. She received the bag as a gift four years ago by her aunt, who expected her to be going off on her journey, not knowing that Primrose's parents had other ideas in mind. However, she was glad that she would finally be able to use it instead of having it take up space in her closet. She carefully slipped the pokétalker into one of the pockets inside the almost empty bag and flung one of the straps over her shoulder. She made sure that her new, teal colored National Pokédex was in one of the pockets of her cargo pants by patting each pocket until she felt it. After that, she slipped on her black pokéball belt that could hold about nine pokéballs incase a trainer needed more than a full team with him/her. She quickly put Trapinch's pokéball onto the first attachment area before taking in a deep breath, ready to start her journey.

Primrose gave her mother and Keke one last goodbye before heading out the door, this time not tripping down the steps. She decided that she would leave her bike chain's key inside her mailbox because her father always checked for mail when he got home from work and if she placed it anywhere else he'd probably not notice it. After casually throwing the small, silver key inside the mailbox, she started to make her way to Route 29 where her journey would officially begin. Little did she know that April would be leaving her house at the same time to start her journey as well. April walked down the road in a frilly, pink dress and giant pink sunhat, while holding her baby Munchlax's hand and carrying a Skitty that was curled up on her hat… Typical. The little brat's parents _would _give her their prized Skitty as a parting gift. Prim once overheard a conversation that their mothers were having about when they were younger and how April's mother used to be a coordinator that used a Skitty and a Milotic in practically every completion. April must have had a tantrum until her mother gave her the Skitty because that Munchlax was too young, Prim thought as she tried to avoid being seen by the annoying, little girl.

Unfortunately, April turned around and waved at Primrose, motioning for her to come over. Prim rolled her eyes and slowly walked up to her, giving a pretty harsh, "What do you want now?" to the younger girl. "I just wanted to show you how great my little Munchy is! Look how adorable he is!" April cooed in her incredibly annoying, pompous voice.

"Beautiful. Now, can I go?" Prim grumbled.

"Not yet! You haven't met Skitty!" She chided, followed by an equally just as pompous, "Nya Nya," coming from the Skitty.

"Hello Skitty, goodbye April," Primrose grumbled lazily. She turned on her heel and tried to quickly get away, but unfortunately for Prim, April grabbed her arm and flung her around so that they were once again facing one another. "I wasn't finished though!" April whined.

"GOODBYE APRIL!" Prim hissed, obviously getting annoyed with the brat.

"But. I. Wasn't. Finished." April growled back, each word sounding more evil than the previous.

"What could you possibly want from me?"

"I want a battle. Your ugly, orange thing against my Munchy!" April cooed, her fake, sweet voice coming back.

"Your Munchlax is too young to fight and it's called a Trapinch by the way, but it is pretty ugly, I'll give you that." Prim grumbled bluntly.

"I don't care! My Munchlax will win anyway, won't you Munchy?" April was followed by a quick, "Mu Munch," and the young Munchlax let go of April's hand, walking up a foot or two in front of April. The poor thing was only half the size of a full-grown Munchlax and it probably didn't even understand that it could get hurt in a battle, but April would continue nagging her until she agreed to battle her so Prim rolled her eyes and nodded, excepting the challenge.

Primrose reached for her pokéball, immediately beginning to feel a bit worried about how this was all going to turn out. She's only seen the Trapinch for a few seconds and that wasn't even enough to get a good look at it, plus it attacked Professor Elm, which wasn't a good sign. _I hope my mom was right about you,_ she thought as she looked at the miniature pokéball that sat in her palm. She pressed the button to enlarge it to full size before throwing it about a yard in front of her. At the end of the long, red light, her Trapinch appeared, looking around the area as if confused. Primrose was already feeling worried by the way that Trapinch was acting and hoped that it was only looking around because it wasn't used to being out of Elm's lab yet. Prim looked over at April who had a confident, malicious grin on her face. "Youngest can go first I guess," Prim mumbled.

"With pleasure. Munchy, use tackle and pummel that orange thing to the ground!" April yelled out.

"Trapinch, dodge and use…bite!" Primrose suddenly realized that she didn't know any of Trapinch's moves, but because of its giant set of choppers, she expected it to at least know bite. She quickly whipped out her pokédex, waiting to see what happened before checking her Trapinch's moves. Unfortunately, Trapinch just stood there, completely oblivious to the charging Munchlax until he hit her head on. Trapinch skidded into a bush, followed by making a weird, irritated hissing sound. Trapinch then burrowed underground and was nowhere to be seen. Luckily, Primrose held out her pokédex just in time to retrieve the needed data. It said, "Trapinch, the ant pit pokémon. It makes a conical pit in desert sand and lies in wait at the bottom for prey to come tumbling down." Prim pressed a button that was titled "moves" and it listed only two moves: bite and dig. "Oh, so you do know bite! Why didn't you listen to me, Trapinch, and where did you go?" Prim yelled out with obvious anger in her tone.

"It looks like you can't control your own pokémon! You must already be a bad trainer!" April called out, half laughing, but she wasn't laughing for long. Trapinch flung out from underneath Munchlax, sending the poor thing flying up into the air, only to land with a loud thump in front of April. "You meanie, I'll teach you to mess with my pokémon!" April yelled out in frustration. "Okay Munchy, let's finish it off with metronome!" Munchlax slowly stood up, looking like it was at the brink of crying, but he obeyed his orders and stared spinning his hand in a circular motion as one of his fingers started to glow white. Before Primrose could even speak, Munchlax was already running towards Trapinch. "Trapinch, use dig and dodge whatever attack he's using!" Prim call out, but once again, Trapinch didn't move an inch. However, this time was different. Munchlax ran up and smacked Trapinch on the side of the face, making it obvious that it was now using doubleslap, but after only taking one hit, Trapinch bit down on Munchlax's hand, not wanting to let go anytime soon. Munchlax started to cry and flail about, but Trapinch wouldn't even loosen up! "You obviously can't control your own pokémon, Rosey! I'm calling my Munchy back!" April yelled out with an amused tone. It was obvious that she was trying to get Primrose irritated and it was definitely working.

"Listen you little brat! I can control my own pokémon and I've told you before to not call me Rosey! You know I hate it!" Primrose sneered. She didn't need some twerp telling her that she couldn't control her own dang pokémon and she couldn't care less about what her Trapinch was doing to April's Munchlax now, heck she wouldn't care if Trapinch went up and attacked April. In fact, she wished it would!

"Whatever Primy Whimy, I'm calling my Munchy back before your uncontrolled Trapinch makes him faint!" April said a bit tauntingly. She pulled off Munchlax's pokéball from her necklace that she uses to hold them, pressed the button to enlarge it, and extended out her arm. "Munchy, return!" April ordered, but nothing happened. She tried it once again, but Munchlax wouldn't go back into the pokéball. "What did you do to my Munchy you jerk?" She screamed in a mix of rage and frustration.

"Why don't you say that again? I'm not sure the people in Unova heard you, and I didn't do anything you little brat! It serves you right that your Munchlax doesn't want to return!" Prim yelled back sarcastically, watching as Trapinch was still holding onto the crying Munchlax. "You can let go now, Trapinch!" Primrose ordered, sounding a bit worried because she was actually starting to feel a little bad about the Munchlax, especially because it was only a baby. Unfortunately, Trapinch wouldn't let go; instead she started to shake Munchlax around, quickly causing the young pokémon to faint. Satisfied, Trapinch let go and sat down, glaring at April's Skitty, challenging it to come and attack. However, being the pompous feline that it was, Skitty simply raised her head and offered a disapproving "Nya" before curling back up on April's hat.

"Now look what your dumb, ugly, orange thing did! Munchy, return now!" April hissed angrily. Luckily, her Munchlax was transported back into its pokéball instead of staying out in the battle field, or road for that matter. However, she wasn't about to get away with calling Trapinch ugly. Trapinch began running towards April with her stubby limbs, ready to chomp down on April's arm or leg, but Primrose quickly recalled Trapinch back into her pokéball, saving the young girl from a very traumatizing experience. "You meanie! Your worthless, orange bug could have attacked me! You're lucky it didn't or I would have called my parents and you'd be in big trouble!" April yelled tauntingly.

As much as Primrose wanted to start yelling back, she didn't, knowing that she might actually get in trouble if April called her parents and forced all the blame onto her. "You're not even worth it," was all she said, and she said it rather bluntly as well. She turned around and started to walk away again, satisfied with her response. She blocked out the rest of April's tantrum the same way she blocked out her autistic brother Nikola's yelling and repetitive noises. Who knew having an autistic sibling could come in handy?

Primrose finally made it to the beginning of Route 29. A tall, skinny, black haired man appeared out of the blue, stopping Prim in her tracks. He had light, brown eyes and appeared to be no more than twenty, but by the way that he was dressed in an ugly brown and red uniform made him appear older by a decade or two. He was the new ranger of the area so Prim didn't exactly know his name, but she held up her pokéball and the ranger moved to let her pass by, neither of them saying a word to each other. It actually felt like an achievement to pass by the ranger without having Keke by her side, though she felt silly about it because Prim felt like she was too old to have that feel like a true accomplishment. She started to think about the times she brought Keke out for a walk around the area of Route 29 that was close to New Bark. They would play hide and seek in the trees and tall grass, but Primrose always won because Keke either let her win or because her pink coloring gave her away.

Primrose was already missing her friend when it hit her. _I could have tried the pokétalker on Keke! She's been the family pet before I was even born, but it didn't even cross my mind to try and talk with her,_ Prim thought, but it was too late to go back now unless she wanted to run in with an angry April again. Just seeing the younger girl made Prim feel irritated and she wasn't about to go through the whole ordeal again, plus she would feel silly walking back home all of a sudden after passing the ranger successfully for the first time. "I might as well try and get to Cherrygrove City and talk to her through the PC. Hopefully that'll work, but I'm probably not going to get there before dark so I'll video call them in the morning." Prim didn't even realize that she was talking to herself, something she tended to do when she was lonely and bored. Luckily, nobody other than her family ever caught her, so that saved her some of the embarrassment.

Primrose looked at her watch that indicated in big, block numbers that it was almost one o'clock. "We might as well camp outside on our first night instead of going to the Pokémon Center. It's our first night after all." She exclaimed as she held Trapinch's pokéball in her hand. The real reason she wanted to camp outside was that she didn't want anyone to see her Trapinch misbehaving again, but if she said that out loud, Trapinch would surely be pissed. What little hope her mother gave her about Trapinch being a good pokémon had quickly disappeared after today's battle with April. Now her only hope was to actually catch a pokémon that behaved and listened to her, which would be hard because her Trapinch was so stubborn and had such a rash nature. At least she could win battles, even if Trapinch didn't want to listen to her.

**Special thanks to my friend Cheerio for looking over and editing this chapter!**


End file.
